Ngwako Modjadji
SACP General Secretary, Blade Nzimande briefs media about their Augmented Central Committee meeting in Randburg, 16 December 2016.Picture - Neil McCartney
Nzimande also condemned state security agencies for taking sides in the internal divisions of the ANC and government.
SA Communist Party (SACP) general secretary Blade Nzimande has warned that the abuse of state security agencies is likely to increase ahead of the ANC elective conference next year.
Nzimande sounded this warning on Friday and said the most recent example was the "bogus" charges against Independent Police Investigative Directorate head Robert McBride, City of Johannesburg anticorruption head Shadrack Sibiya, private investigator Paul O'Sullivan and suspended Crime Intelligence officer Captain Candice Coetzee.
This comes after Gauteng Hawks head Prince Mokotedi laid charges against the four this week.
The charges include high treason, espionage, conspiracy to commit murder, corruption, intimidation, harassment, defeating the ends of justice, breaking immigration laws and tax evasion.
"It is clear that the state security agencies have, themselves, become a threat to national security," Nzimande said.
"We condemn the security agencies for taking sides in the internal divisions of the ANC and government," Nzimande said. "We are determined to combat this."
He was addressing journalists at the SACP's end-of-year central committee meeting in Randburg, Johannesburg.
SACP second deputy general secretary Solly Mapaila described charges against McBride as an "intention to prove that we will show him".
"We can't have impunity in law like that,"Mapaila said about the charges.
"We feel that if we allow the securitisation of the state, it will plunge this country into serious problems."
Nzimande urged the ANC to develop a clear policy on leadership succession to prevent an all-out war and people projecting themselves as kingmakers in the leadership battle.
"There must be some protocol and policy that the ANC needs to develop," Nzimande warned.
"Otherwise, the ANC is likely to tear itself apart.
"We are saying this out of concern."
He also warned that if the ANC, which performed dismally in the local government elections earlier this year, did not unite, it would not be able to lead the national democratic revolution (NDR).
"The SACP will continue, for now, to contribute to the ANC playing this role, but will simultaneously independently contribute to building a working class-led popular movement to advance the NDR," Nzimande said.
Nizimande, who also serves in the Cabinet, noted that 2016 has seen a significant backlash against corporate capture and corruption from an array of forces.
The SACP, which is said to have fallen out with President Jacob Zuma, has always been critical of the Gupta family, accusing them of having influence over Zuma and some of his ministers.